Time Garden
by InnocentDiamond
Summary: When Shun, the future heir of the Kazami family, is suddenly diagnosed with a rare disease, he and Alice, a normal girl who he's never seen or met before, must find 12 flowers need to cure him. But what else will they find in addition to the antidote?
1. Hybrid Hay Fever

"We're going to be late, Shun! I'm pretty sure you're faster than this." Shona Kazami yelled to Shun. She was on the ground, running at full speed.

"Like, I don't see you speeding up." Shun replied in sarcasm as he jumped through the tree branches. He suddenly stopped and landed on the grass. "Onee-san, you win again." Shona laughed.

"I found a lot of sage and oregano today. Must be from the recent rain showers. Don't want to be late for lunch." She walked inside the front gate onto the porch and changed her shoes. The butler, who stood at the front door of the mansion, handed Shun a towel. "Chef! See if you can make something with these herbs." Shona yelled as she ran into the kitchen. The chef was very satisfied and immediately began washing them for today's meal."

"Shun-san, how was training today?" the butler asked. "It seems that Shona-san defeated you again." He was chuckling a little, but Shun heard it.

"Defeat or not, it's going to make me more determined to train harder." Shun said as he wiped his forehead with the towel. "Where's Grandfather, Mr. Butler?"

"Kazami-sama and your uncle went out for business about an hour ago." the butler replied as he took the towel out of Shun's hand. "Would you like a fresher towel to dry with, Shun-san?"

"No thank you." Shun went to the kitchen. "I think I'll back to train in the garden forests again after lunch. Onee-san, are you coming?"

"Yes, I'll be going, but not directly after lunch." Shona explained. "I don't want you to have indigestion and an upset stomach." She took a taste of the oregano shrimp and nodded her head. "Looks like the shrimp is ready. Shun!"

"Well," Shun continued. "I was thinking of training first and _then_ coming back for a snack." But Shona didn't buy it and crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll eat first. Then can we go?"

"Yes, you can. Now eat before I force this down your mouth."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, yes I will. Just wait." Shona took the plates of food to the table as Shun sat down at the table with everyone else and began eating.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"So much grass here." Alice exclaimed as she walked over the tall grass. "Rain can be a wonder and a pest at sometimes." She had a basket in her hand full of sage. "I wonder if there are any herbs here."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Alice." Aunt Clara told her. "Oh dear. I forgot to bring a spare basket. This one's full already. You don't mind if I go back to the cottage, do you? I'll be right back."

"It's okay, Auntie. I know my way." Alice kept walking forward while Aunt Clara walked back. "It sure is tiring gathering herbs." she sighed. Alice rested by a pine tree, and a bird flew down to her. "Hello, birdie. You must be a swallow, are you?" The swallow made beautiful sounds and flew away. "Have a nice day!"

Suddenly, a very loud rustling sound was heard, and it wasn't far away from Alice. "W-Who's there?!" Alice yelled. Nobody responded. "Hello? Is anyone there?" At the corner of her eye, Alice saw something black among the talk green grass. "A-Are you okay?" Alice stepped closer until she saw somebody lying down in the grass, unconscious and still. _Oh no, he's hurt. _Alice thought. _Good thing I know medicine_. She went over and lifted his head up. "Oh my goodness! You've spit a lot of blood out!" Alice noticed that at the mouth of the raven-haired boy was dry to semi-dry blood.

"For the heaven's sake! Shun!" a voice yelled from the other direction. It was Shona. "Shun! Can you hear me? Please answer me!" Shona gave Alice a glance. "What are you—?"

"Shona! I heard Shun was found around here." another voice yelled. A tall and average-looking man with black hair and brown eyes like Shun and Shona ran by. "Are you serious? Shun's spit out a lot of blood! Quick, carry him back to the mansion! I'll call the doctor."

"Hold on, Uncle Suguru." Shona stopped him and carried Shun on her left shoulder. "It's looks like he stopped bleeding. Why don't we carry him back and then call the doctor. Chef can make some chicken soup." Alice came over with a handkerchief in her hand.

"It's still best to wipe his mouth of the dry blood." Alice suggested. "Here." Suguru looked at Alice with suspicion, but Shona shook her head at him.

"Thanks you." Shona replied as she took Alice's handkerchief and wiped Shun's mouth. "Uncle, you don't mind if she comes with us, do you? She might have seen what happened." He was very reluctant but agreed to it anyway. "Thanks, Uncle. Come on!" Shona and Suguru carried Shun back while Alice followed.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"My grandchild!" Kazami-sama cried. He was so devastated that he almost fainted. The butlet took him over to a chair to rest. "What happened to him?"

"Well, we found him in the forests lying on the grass, Father." Suguru replied. "He spit so much blood out that he ran out of-"

"That he went unconscious." Shona interrupted. She gave her uncle a glare, telling him not to say too much. The doctor came in the front door and knocked.

"Excuse, is this Kazami residence?" He asked. Shona let him in while she and Suguru rested Shun on his bed upstairs. He took Shun's right hand and was about to check his pulse when Shun woke up.

"W-Where am I?" Shun asked in a low voice. "I feel so tired and fatigued."

"Relax, Shun. The doctor's going to check your pulse and check if you're showing symptoms of anything, okay?" Shona reassured him. Shun nodded in agreement as the doctor checked for any symptoms.

"Do you happen to have any more of the blood that your son spit out?" The doctor asked. Alice came over and gave him her handkerchief. "Hmm," he observed. "Kazami-sama, I don't mean to scare you, but your grandson might have a case of hybrid hay fever."

"Hybrid hay fever?! No way! That's impossible." Shona asked. "Through Mother's medical books, I learned about different types of diseases and their symptoms. The doctor had to observe Shun's blood for speckles, which is the most common way to find out if someone had hybrid hay fever, even though this isn't a common disease. There's only has one cure, right?"

"Right." The doctor agreed. "One cure, many flowers. They don't call it hybrid for nothing. Here's what you'll need to get." The doctor wrote down a prescription of the flowers that need to be gathered. "Here. Now, Shun-san, the number one problem with HHF is that you shouldn't be out in the rain. That's it. One last thing. I insist that your grandson personally goes to get these flowers with someone. Makes him more exposed to each flower's medicinal abilities." "But wait, who will go with him?" Kazami-sama asked. He looked at Alice, who had no idea what was going on. "What's your name, young lady?"

"Alice. Alice Gehabich." Alice replied. "If you need my help, I'd be glad to accept your request." It was settled. Shun and Alice were to go into Tsukiboshi Hanazono to get the medicine for Shun's sickness, even though they were pure strangers to each other.


	2. Fascinating Distinctions

"Feeling any better?" Alice asked as she waited for Shun to come out at the front door. "It's very rare, you know."

"Thanks for helping me." Shun replied. He took his bag of provisions and put his shoes on. "I had a feeling that I'd be going into these woods again. What did you say the name of this place was?" He began walking, and Alice followed him.

"Tsukiboshi Hanazono. Moon Star Garden." Alice replied. She glanced at Shun. "You don't mind that I have to be with you until we find all twelve flowers, do you? Like, you're from a rich—"

"I don't mind at all." Shun interrupted. He continued talking. "By the way, I'm Shun Kazami. What's your name? Haven't seen you before."

"Alice. Alice Gehabich. It's pleasure to meet you, Shun." Alice offered her hand to Shun, and they shook hands. "Your house is beautiful. At first, I didn't dare to step in, but the long-haired girl let me in. She seems really nice. I've seen her once in a while when I go herb-picking."

"You pick herbs, too?" Shun asked. "What a coincidence. My onee-san, Shona, the girl you're referring to, always goes and picks herbs out there. She's a very medical person." Shun stopped and picked a piece of leaf off from a nearby plant. "Is this wild thyme?" He asked Alice. Alice put her head forward and sniffed it.

"It's actually lemon thyme." she replied. "Think of it as a cousin of thyme. I'm very medical, too. My aunt—" Alice stopped talking.

"What about your aunt?" Shun asked. Alice seemed really worried.

"I forgot to tell her that I'm helping you gather the flowers for your cure." Alice responded. "Why don't we go to my cottage for now? It's not that far away."

"I don't mind." Shun told her. "You might want to hurry up." Alice ran forward while Shun followed.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Thanks for coming over at such short notice, though, Nadeshiko. Alice isn't back yet." Aunt Clara greeted. She poured a cup of jasmine tea and handed a cup to Nadeshiko and Sakurasou when the door opened.

"Aunt Clara, I'm back!" Alice yelled. She stopped at the door when she saw the guests. "Nadeshiko! Sakurasou! I miss you two a lot!" Alice hugged her beloved distant cousin and stepped back. "Aunt Clara, I have a request." She explained everything about Shun and hybrid hay fever to the three of them.

"Hybrid hay fever? Is it contagious?" Aunt Clara was very worried, seeing that Shun wouldn't sit down with them.

"I heard this rare disease before." Nadeshiko replied. "The first symptom is spitting a lot of blood out. Then your blood becomes speckled. If you stay outside in a rain even for a minute or so, you'll be spitting blood out again."

"It's also very ironic." Sakurasou added. "It's not contagious at all, not even if you mix your blood together, but don't do it. There's not much connection between flowers and the cause of HHF. However, the cure requires a lot of flowers. Twelve to be exact. Is that what the doctor told, you?"

"Twelve different flowers." Shun replied. "By the way, who are you two?"

"I'm Sakurasou, and this is my twin older sister, Nadeshiko." she introduced. "We're Alice's distant cousins and visiting her in Tsukiboshi. We're not familiar with this place and were hoping that Alice might take us around for a tour. But seeing that she needs to help you, I guess we'll—"

"No, it's okay." Shun replied quickly. "Like, I'm familiar with Tsukiboshi, too. You don't mind if both Alice and I get a tour, do you?" Nadeshiko and Sakurasou were excited. "Okay, then. Maybe we can find some of the flowers for the cure on the way?" All four of them waved a goodbye to Aunt Clara and left.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"This is beautiful!" Nadeshiko exclaimed. "What a beautiful lake! I didn't know that there was a place like this here. Can we wade in here?"

"This lake has been here for a long time." Shun commented. "I used to come play here with my sister and other friends, and we'd have a splash party. Okaa-san would come here and pick flowers to decorate the house with." He picked up a flower, picked the petals off into his palm, and blew them into toward the lake. "She used blow flower petals while we play, but now nobody blows them."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Shun." Alice responded. "Did she die in a fire?"

"It wasn't an ordinary fire, I sw—" Shun stopped talking and looked at Alice. "How did you know it was a fire that killed her?"

"Forest fires are the most common causes of death around here, and it's not surprising that most people die from fires." Alice replied. "I'm sorry that I brought that up. It was just something that occurs over and over."

"Tsukiboshi is truly a fascinating place." Sakurasou complimented. "If you were to compare this do a different garden village, I'm telling you, this is the one the only."

"I think so, too." Shun added. "You want to see where this lake head off to?" The two of nodded, and all of them were running down the shore.

"There are mountains are?" Nadeshiko asked as she looked up."

"Not really mountains. It's mainly just a lot of plants and eroded rock, that's all." Alice told her. "You can even see that tree's roots on the side.

"Amazing!" Sakurasou pointed to some daffodils and narcissi by the lake. "This is the first time that I've seen two related species plants grow together. This is one thing that other garden villages don't have.

"I'm very amazed by this myself." Alice was also fascinated by this. "How did you ever find this place, Shun? Isn't this far from your house?"

"Not at all, Alice." Shun leaned on the fence a little. "If you look carefully through the fog, you can actually see a silhouette of my house. Mansion to be exactly." Alice tried leaning over the fence to look, too.

"Wow, I can see your house, too. But how can you see it from-ah!" Alice leaned over but slipped on the fence by accident. Neither Nadeshiko or Sakurasou were fast enough to see that, but Shun caught her before she fell in the water. "W-What was that?"

"A-Are you okay? You're not frightened, are you?" Shun felt really awkward holding onto Alice's hand in public. "I uh-".

"Thanks, Shun. It was a good thing that you caught me. How did you notice that?" Alice was certain that everyone's back was facing her.

"I'm a ninja." was his answer. " I can feel changes in movement and immediately felt something wrong when you fell over." Suddenly Nadeshiko came over.

"Alice, Shun, it was a really nice day today. Thank you for giving us a tour around here. Tsukiboshi Hanazono is very fascinating." Nadeshiko told them.

"We'll always remember this place it's very distinct from other places." Sakurasou added. "We know our way home, and before we leave, we want to give you this." The twins took out a gift bag with plastic jars of dried flowers inside. "Nadeshiko has dried carnations, and I have dried primroses. We've always wanted to give Aunt Clara this as a birthday present, but we never have the time to come over around that date.

Sakurasou chimed in. "Give this to her for us, okay? You can take some, too. Boil them in hot water, and you have some healing remedy tea."

"Why, thank you so much, you two! Take care on the way back!" Alice replied as the twins went off. "Look, Shun. We have two of the twelve flowers for your cure." Shun nodded in agreement as Alice put them into a small bag. "Now we have ten more to go. Wait, where are we going to spend the night at?"

"I know a place." Shun brought up. "If we walk back this path, there'll be a resting post that extends into the water. I used to stay there for the night with my sister, mother, and friends before we go home. Alice agreed, and they walked back down the path to the resting post.


	3. Thank You For Your Respect

"You have really great culinary skills, Alice." Shun complimented as he ate a piece of sushi that Alice made and brought along. "What's your secret?"

"Oh, there's no secret." Alice replied. "I used a lot of effort in making this. I guess that's my secret. I'm glad that you're enjoying breakfast." Alice drank some jasmine tea from her thermos. "We can move on now." Shun stood up and helped Alice up as well.

"Why don't we try going down this path, away from the lake?" Shun suggested. "I've never been there before." Down the path was a lot of fresh green grass, but the path was curvy, so the place that it led to wasn't very clear.

"Sure, I guess." Alice was reluctant to go but agreed anyway. "What exactly is down there? Like, I never knew that there was a resting post here, either."

"Well, we'll just have to go there and look. Come on!" Shun and Alice ran down the path, not knowing where it leads to. It was a tricky path, because it curved this way and that, and it'd sometimes go higher and lower. Finally, they came to a stop in front of a shiny, almost new metal sign.

" 'Warning.' " Alice read. " 'This is private property. Do not trespass.' I've never seen this place bef—" Before Alice could finish talking, a metal unlocking sound was heard, and a young boy walked out.

"Don't you know that this is private property?" the young, blond boy yelled at Shun and Alice harshly. "Get out!" Shun pulled Alice by the arm to tell her go, but Alice had something to say.

"We're sorry for coming here." Alice apologized. "We didn't know that this was private property here until now because this is our first time coming here. We'd be happy to leave now." Alice finally turned around and left, but then the blond boy spoke up again.

"Wait, if this is your first time here, then that means you probably don't know about what happened here." he said. Shun and Alice had blank expressions. "I'm sorry. I thought that you were one of my so-called 'neighbors' that were visiting me. Feel free to come in." Seeing that the boy's tone had changed, Shun accepted his offer and went over toward the gate.

"What's wrong Alice? You don't want to come over?" Shun asked Alice, who had a confused expression on her face.

"I do, but what do you mean by 'neighbors?' " Alice replied. The blond boy told Alice and Shun to come in first. As they walked on the marble walkway, Alice couldn't help notice that everything was of high quality.

"This place is beautiful." Alice commented. "It reminds me of your mansion, Shun. Even the front door is gilded." They entered the front door and were told to sit down on the sofas. The butler came over and poured everyone a cup of tea.

"Welcome to the Marukura Mansion. I'm Marucho Marukura." he introduced. "I couldn't help hearing that you—" He pointed to Alice. "-said that my house reminds you of your—" He pointed to Shun. "—house."

"That was confusing, but you could say it that way." Shun replied. "I'm Shun Kazami, and this is Alice Gehabich. We live around here, too, only way farther than your house. Why do you have a private property sign out there? My grandfather never dared to put those up in front of our mansion."

"So I assume you're also of a rich family, Shun." Marucho said. "Actually, my parents were forced to do that. We use to have a lot of neighbors around here, but one time, during a dinner party, somebody was acting all impolite and rude. Then some neighbors rejected—yes, rejected, like literally telling us in our face that they weren't going to agree to—our party invitations. My parents got tired of it and decided to install that gate and put the sign up."

"That's too bad." Alice said. "I don't have many neighbors around where I live, so I wouldn't know how that feels. By the way, I could help but notice the greenhouse back there. Is it open?"

"Actually, that was planned as a place for our guests to go and observe, but now it closed due to the events I mentioned. To tell you the truth, I actually miss those neighbors. I miss playing with my friends. They always wanted to go to the greenhouse."

"Why don't you reopen the greenhouse?" Shun suggested. "That way, your friends can come over. Maybe your neighbors will like to bring some herbs home to cook. I saw pots of parsley and basil in there."

"That's a great idea!" a voice spoke from the hallway. "Hello there! I'm Mr. Marukura. Couldn't help overhearing your conversation. I think we should really open the greenhouse up for our neighbors. There are a lot of plants in there, and I'm always tired of looking at the same thing every day. We'll invite our neighbors over this afternoon. Marucho, why don't you give them a tour? We could use some help." Shun and Alice agreed, and Marucho gave them a tour of the entire mansion and greenhouse.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"What a beautiful day, isn't it?" Marucho was introducing some cilantro to neighbors and talking about their culinary abilities. "Try sprinkling them on some cooked chicken. It really tastes better. Here's some lemon thyme. Smell it. It really smells like lemons. You can actually use this as a substitute for lemon juice if you don't like the sourness."

"You can?" somebody asked. "What's this then? Such beautiful white and yellow flowers." A lot of people suddenly came by, and Alice, who happened to be nearby, saw that water had spilled.

"Oh no! Let me handle it." Alice took the porcelain pot and rested it on a wooden table. "These are daffodils. They're aquatic flowers. If you look closely, it looks like they're two flowers in one."

"This is a pot of lemongrass." Shun was watering some plants while introducing them to nearby spectators. "Mosquitos might not be common around here, but if you're going camping, the smell emitted by the lemongrass will scare away mosquitoes." He looked over at where Alice was. "I see that you're making good progress."

"So are you. I didn't know you knew so much about camping."

"And I didn't know that you're quite the floral person. The next thing I'll be hearing is you giving a long, unnecessary description of the history of roses."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice replied as her cheeks turned vermilion. "Hmph."

"Oh, nothing. Pretend that I never said anything."

When the day was over, Marucho came over to Shun and Alice with a present in his hands.

"Thank you so much for helping us bring back our atmosphere of fun back here, you two." Marucho said. "We don't have much to thank you with, but here's a small thank-you gift for your help and respect." He took out a small bouquet of freshly cut daffodils and daisies. "It seems like that Shun likes daisies a lot, do you? And Alice, thanks for catching that pot of daffodils in time. They were my prize possessions. You're lucky that I was willing to cut some for this bouquet."

"Only because they were my mother's birth flower." Shun's expression was full of grimness, but Alice came over and comforted him.

"This isn't the time time to be thinking about that." she said gently. "You should be happy that we're getting closer to finding your cure."

"You're right. Thanks, Alice. Thanks a lot, Marucho. I really appreciate this." He accepted the bouquet and haded it to Alice.

"It looks like we just got two more flowers for your cure, did we?" Alice told Shun. "And Marucho didn't know about hybrid hay fever." She and Shun waved Marucho goodbye as they walked down the stairs. "Hey look. The sign is gone already."

"Fast acting, isn't it?" Shun laughed. "Four down, eight more to go. Don't you want me to be perfectly better again?"

"Well, I..." Alice blushed for no apparent reason again and moved on. _What is it with this guy and his use of words?_


	4. Appreciating Your Sweetness

"Is it just me, or did this grass grow overnight?" Shun almost tripped over some overgrown grass, but Alice helped him maintain his balance. "Thanks, Alice. Where are we going, anyway?" They walked a long way, and it was already lunch time. "I think we should stop and eat."

"You're right." Alice looked around. "There's a resting post over there. I'm sure that's suitable." They walked over to the benches at the resting post and began eating lunch. When Alice was about to take a bite out of her pork bun when a little girl came by. "Um, I, uh, what are you doing?" She didn't respond, and Shun noticed that the little girl was looking at Alice's pork bun.

"Alice, I think she's hungry. Why don't you give her a piece of your pork bun?" Shun asked. Alice looked at Shun, then her pork bun, then the girl.

"Here, you can have the whole bun." Alice handed the pork bun to the girl, who immediately started eating. "What's your name? Why are you here?"

"My name's Rose." was all she said. Rose didn't say anything else.

"Are you lost? If you are, we'd be happy to help you out." Shun hoped that his words would make her talk more, but it didn't help either.

"Shun, I think we'll have to find out where belongs first before looking for more flowers." Alice suggested. "Come on, Rose. You don't have to be scared." Alice took Rose's left hand, Shun took the other, and they walked down the path.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Rose! Rose! Where are you?" Suzuran yelled. "Where could she have gone? Mother, Father did you find any clues?"

"Nothing." her mother replied. "It's like a jungle out here, only not so tall and hot. What a mess."

"This isn't time to be joking around." Suzuran's father protested. "Suzuran, where else would Rose go to? I don't think she's ever been here before."

"I really don't know. I just saw her run here and that's it." Suzuran thought for a minute and had an idea. "Why don't you guys look around here for now? I'll go down the path to see if I can find anything. I'll shoot a firework up the sky as a signal." Suzuran ran down the path and was gone.

"I feel so bad. If only we had paid more attention to her," the father sighed. "then none of this would happen."

"It's not your fault." the mother comforted. "But Rose is so young. What if—" She burst into tears before she could finish talking.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Oh, so you have a sister named Suzuran? How old is she?" Shun asked. He and Alice finally were able to get Rose to talk more.

"Older than me by three years." Rose said. "How old are you, Shun-nii?"

"Uh, me? Seventeen. When I turn eighteen, I have to be in charge of my family matters." Shun stuttered.

"Seventeen?" Alice was curious. "I'm seventeen, too. Future heir of the Kazami family, right?" Shun gave Alice a glance.

"How do you know that I was the future heir?" Shun interrogated. He looked slightly suspicious.

"You just said 'family matters,' so it probably has to do with your family's treasure or something. It's common sense. Your family wouldn't have Shona do it because she's a girl, right?" Alice replied. " Rose, do you want to go flower-picking?" Shun sighed, and Rose nodded.

Alice and Rose went over to a field of lilies of the valley. Alice picked some flowers off and put them on the ground. "Oh dear, I have to wash my hands now. Rose!" Rose was observing the flowers but heard Alice's call and came over.

"There's a river down there." Rose pointed into a certain direction. She held Alice's hand and dragged her there.

"It's a good thing there's a river nearby." Alice said in a gentle voice. "Cool, refreshing water for washing your hands. You wash your hands, too, Rose." Alice splashed some water onto Rose's hands and scrubbed them. "Fresh and clean. Right, Rose?" Rose smiled for the first time.

"Hmm...Lilies of the valley." Shun observed the flowers that Alice picked earlier. "Necessary for the cure." Shun was putting each flower into the small bag that Alice used to store the flowers. A voice later yelled in the distance.

"Rose! Where are you?" It was Suzuran. She was panting really hard and saw Shun, who stood up and turned around. "Excuse me, but have you seen a short girl with pigtails named—"

"Rose?" Shun cut her off. "She and Alice were picking these lilies of the valley but went to the river to wash their hands. Are you Suzuran?"

"Yes, I am. How did you know my name?"

"My friend Alice and I met with Rose when we were eating lunch. I'm Shun, by the way. Rose is quite a quiet girl." Shun took his stuff and lead Suzuran to the river.

"Arigatou, Alice-nee." Rose thanked Alice and stood up. "Oh! It's Onee-chan!" Alice stood up and saw Shun and Suzuran running down.

"Hi Alice. I put those flowers in the bag that you reserved for the flowers." He showed the bag to Alice and introduced Suzuran. "Alice, this is Suzuran, Rose's sister. Suzuran, this is Alice."

"Thank you so much for taking care of Rose while I was gone." Suzuran bowed to Alice. "Rose, we have to go home now." Rose wouldn't budge and held on to Alice really tight. "Rose, listen to me."

"I think Rose's sticking to Alice on purpose." Shun asked. He looked at Suzuran and asked, "Where's her parents?"

"Mother and Father are back at the upper fields." Suzuran replied, but Shun knew something wasn't right.

"I don't mean to be nosy, but I think Rose ran away because her parents weren't caring for her enough. Throughout the whole afternoon, Alice and I were here with Rose. It's not bizarre for Rose to stick with Alice. Alice really cares for her." Suzuran looked disappointed and looked at Rose.

"You're right." Suzuran said. "It's true. My parents have been very busy lately, and they never have enough time to watch over Rose. I have to do chores, so I'm very busy, too." She launched a small firework to mark her position. "My parents will be here soon. Rose, I'm sorry. It's not that we don't love you anymore but we've been so busy. Please forgive your Onee-chan. And Alice, I really appreciate how you've been so sweet and caring to Rose, even though she was a stranger to you." Alice smiled, and Rose's parents soon arrived.

"Rose! Oh my, I was worried about you!" She hugged Rose, who finally let go of Alice's hand. "Are you okay?"

"Thank you two so much for taking so much care of my daughter." her father thanked and apologized. "If she's done anything that upsets you, I'm very sorry."

"It's okay." Alice responded. "She was a really obedient child. Rose didn't talk much, though, and she often acts like she zones out."

"Bye Alice-nee, Shun-nii! This is for you." Rose took off the red flower on her head and gave it to Shun. "Give this to Alice-nee for me."

"Um, okay." replied Shun sheepishly. "Bye Rose!"

"Sayonara!" Suzuran, Rose, and their parents were soon out of sight.

"Well, what do you know? This is a real rose. Very fresh, too." Shun handed the rose to Alice. "For you."

"Uh..._thank you_." Alice blushed as she took the rose from his hand and smelled it. "It's still fresh. I wonder where she got it. And why did she give it to you to give me?"

Shun shrugged. "I don't know, but if she gave it to me without a word, I'd give it to you anyway. By the way, did you pick up those lilies-of-the-valley?"

"Yup! Six down, six to go. And you'll be all better."

"I hope so..."


	5. Remember to be Graceful

It was now a daily habit for Shun to sneeze and cough now and then. However, both Alice and Shun knew that this wasn't a good omen.

"So, where are we going next?" Shun asked. Alice was looking at a poster on a bulletin post nearby. "What are you looking at, Alice?"

"This poster." Alice went over to the bulletin post and pointed to the newly-posted poster. "There's a kendo competition coming up. It's in..._four_ days! I can't wait!"

"You like kendo? That's...nice." Shun felt really awkward around this topic. "Where's is going to be held? Does it need reservations." Alice was squinting at while reading the fine print.

"Actually, you do." Alice said. "The competition is going held at a motel nearby. 'Reserve for front seats and a motel room at the receptionists' counter.' I hope we can afford that."

"Well, I could pay for it, but then Grandfather would be asking me why we're coming to this place when we should be looking for the remaining flowers for the cure." Shun had a point. Looking for flowers was more important that watching a kendo competition.

"Please, Shun." Alice was about to beg him. "I really want to see this. This is the only time that I've seen a kendo competition." Alice had that puppy-eye expression on her face.

"Okay, Alice. We'll go. Where's the motel?" Shun asked. Alice read the arrow on top of the bulletin post, and they went east.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"This is a really neat place." Shun commented as they enter the motel. "Excuse me, is this where we make reservations for the kendo competition?"

"Yes, it is. How many people?" the receptionist asked. Shun told them two, and she immediately printed the bill and got the keys out. Shun paid and took the keys. "Thank you!" the receptionist thanked. Shun and Alice went up to their room, which was next a really huge, theater-ish room.

"Here's our room." Alice announced. It had a balcony, wide glass windows, and other necessities. "You don't mind if I check this room out for now, do you?"

"I don't mind. You'll have to check this room out anyway. I'll be next door." Shun put the keys on the table and left. Shun opened the door, walked in, and saw that it was empty. _What a huge training area_, Shun thought. He was about to leave when somebody came charging behind him. "What the—" Luckily, Shun dodged it, and the attacker stood up.

"You're the first person I know who was able to dodge this." the attacker took the piece of cloth off his face and spoke. "My name's Dan Kuso. Who are you?"

"Shun Kazami. Just made reservations here with a friend." Shun introduced himself. He looked at Dan's sword and asked, "You know kendo?"

"Yup. Been training even since I was five. I've been with my master for about a decade now, and here's not a bit tired." Dan sighed. "My father wants me to be the best, and now he's pushing me into this competition. I've been so pressure lately that I'm failing my training, too. Do you know kendo?"

"Sorry." Shun apologized. "Ninjutsu only. and a little Japanese war fan martial arts from my sister. If you need help, I'd be glad to offer a hand. My friend really wants to see that competition, and I don't think she'll like to hear that you might ruin it." Dan looked up curiously, but someone came into the room.

"Accept it, Dan." the man said. "Nice meeting you, Shun. I'm Hazuki, Dan's trainer. Dan could really use the help these days. Maybe he needs someone about his age to communicate with him. Right, Dan?" He gave Dan a glare.

"Sure, Master Hazuki." Dan replied. He rose and went over to the weapon rack. "Choose a weapon. I want to see if you can really fight."

"No thanks." Shun responded. "I'm used to using shuriken." He took one out in his hand out of nowhere, and they began practicing. Alice suddenly came by and observed the two. _Shun is so fast__, _she thought, with a slight blush in her cheeks. _I wonder how becomes this skilled in fighting. _Soon the practice round was over. Alice was actually applauding. Dan and Shun looked at her in surprise.

"That was amazing, Shun!" Alice yelled. "Oh my gosh, you're Dan Kuso! I'm Alice Gehabich. My aunt always talks about how you're like a kendo prodigy. She's seen a lot of your competitions when you performed in some market square somewhere a couple years ago, but too bad she's not here."

Dan was surprised. "I remember. That _was_ couple years ago. But you saw me lose to Shun. That's not worth praising." He turned his back toward her, but Hazuki spoke up.

"Dan, I think you really need some help in this." he said. "Just let Shun help you, and Alice is a loyal fan of yours, even if she's never seen your competitions before. What do you think?"

"Well, I guess I don't have any choice." Dan replied. "Shun, I trust that you'll help me win this competition. Alice, thanks for being a loyal follower, even though this is my first competition that you'll see around _here._"

"Well, then. Let's get started." Shun ordered. Alice closed the door, and training officially started.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Okay, this is getting really intriguing." Alice said. "Dan's in the last round, and it seems that he's getting tired. What is wrong with his opponent? That guy barely broke a sweat."

"How would you know?" Shun questioned. "You can't see any of their faces, from here. Besides, it's mandatory that Dan wins."

The last round was very intriguing and difficult. Dan's opponent kept striking at him as if Dan was a training dummy. All Dan could do was dodge, but he would soon dodge off the field if he didn't retaliate. Everything seemed to be going wrong until Dan's opponents missed

"See? _Now_ Dan's opponent has the disadvantage." Shun yelled. "That is the exact same thing that happens to me when Onee-san uses one of her war fan tactics."

"Shona knows how to fight, too?" asked Alice curiously.

"Well...who else do you expect me to train with? Even so, she's stronger than me."

"But I saw you fighting Dan the other day. You won pretty easily."

"That's a different story."

"Yeah, but you'll always be the best in my opinion."

Shun gave Alice a quick glance and looked back. "Thanks..."

Suddenly, Dan had his chance to attack back. With a few stances, Dan's opponent fell down. He got back up again, but Dan knocked him down again. The whistle blew, a countdown was heard, and Dan won this competition. After the mini-ceremony, Dan and Hazuki found Shun and Alice went over to them.

"Hey, Shun, Alice. Thanks for helping me with training these day." Dan bowed to the two of them. "Master was right. Sometimes it's best to be with people around your age. Did you see how graceful that final attack was? If only you knew, kendo, I'd probably challenge you. Hazuki, the presents, please?" Hazuki took two gift bags out. "The green one's for Shun, and the purple one's for Alice. Hope you'll like them."

"Same here, Dan. Just remember to never fall apart in training." Shun replied. "If you knew ninjutsu, I'd challenge you, too. Sayonara!"

"You were awesome, Dan." Alice complimented. "Now I understand why my aunt is such a big fan of yours. Good luck in your future competitions!" She and Shun went to the receptionist, canceled their room, and left the motel. Shun looked in his gift bag. "Herbal calendula flowers? That's necessary for my cure and reminds me of your twin cousin's dried flower. What do you have?"

"A flower crown decorated in live poppies." Alice responded. " 'Red poppies as a symbol of victory.' That's was the tag says. Too bad I'll have to rip one off." Alice ripped a poppy off while Shun took a calendula out. "Reserved for Shun's cure." They laughed and moved on.


	6. Plenty of Self Esteem

"That's was really horrible last night." Alice complained. "You were coughing so hard that I woke up during midnight. I thought we were trespassing somewhere again."

"I'm so sorry, Alice. I didn't know that I was really serious last night." Shun coughed again.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Okay, now I do." Shun drank his water while Alice cleaned up the trash. "We really need to working faster."

"I was thinking that we could go that way down to the meadows." Alice suggested. "Maybe a sunny place could help you with your condition?"

"I think so too. People tend to have more energy when they're in the sunlight." Shun sighed as he looked up into the sky.

"Well, come on then! Why won't you move?" Alice was literally pulling on Shun's arm, but Shun had a weird expression on his face.

"Alice, what are you doing?" He looked at Alice with a shock on his face. "Did you just pull on my arm?"

Alice stepped back. "Oh my, I'm sorry for pulling your hand. It's just that I used to do that to a close friend of mine when I was younger, that's all. Always worked on everyone I pulled so they can get up. Anyway, I'm done cleaning up. Ready to go?" Shun stood up, and Alice led the way.

The meadow was smoother, and unlike the other paths, it was an actual path that was obviously made of dirt instead of trampled grass.

"Is it just me, or does it look like a real map around here?" Shun looked at the ground, then the paths that circled the meadow. There were dirt piles everywhere and flower petals scattered onto random places.

"What an eyesore." Alice groaned. Then she noticed two girls yelling at each other at the gazebo. "There's an argument over there. We should check it out." Alice ran over to the gazebo while Shun followed.

"Runo, this is _ugly_!" one of the girls yelled. "You don't expect us to submit this in, do you?"

"I'm sorry, Julie," Runo replied. "but we've already worked really hard on this. Why is it that we always make something that is extremely ugly?"

"Excuse me," Alice asked. "but what are you doing with those flowers? You can't just randomly uproot flowers from the meadow and plant them like that." Shun caught up with Alice and saw what Runo and Julie were doing.

"Ikebana?" Shun asked. "You two know ikebana?" Alice was confused and asked what ikebana is.

"It's the Japanese art of flower arrangement." Runo replied, trying to prop one of the crooked flowers up. "By the way, I'm Runo, and this is my partner Julie."

"Hello!" Julie greeted. "This was supposed to be our masterpiece for the ikebana contest that's coming up, but we never make a beautiful piece of art anyway. Isn't this ugly?" Julie showed Alice and Shun their pot of a sakura bonsai.

"That's actually very pretty." Shun observed. "By the way, I'm Shun, and this is Alice. We're here looking for, uh—"

"Flowers." Alice helped him out. "But if you need help, we'd be glad to offer a hand." Runo and Julie looked at each other and sighed.

"If you say so." Runo shrugged. "Even if we did have help, we're never going to win. We'll go to my house. It's just across that bridge." The four of them walked down the bridge to Runo's house, which extended slightly into the lake.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Okay, we either have to get a new arrangement or just quit." Julie said. "This sakura bonsai is just too plain. We need something that's eye catching, something more lively, and something more—"

"Meaningful?" Shun interrupted. Julie nodded, and everyone began thinking of ideas. "If you want something meaningful, then it has to be something that's important. To me, I like daisies because they represent my mother, who's not here anymore. I don't need any more sympathy."

"White clover is important to me because they stand for promises." said Julie. "Promises are really important."

"I like white violets because they mean modesty." Runo spoke. "I'm the type of person that isn't a big fan of pride. How about you, Alice?" Alice wasn't feeling so well.

"Um, asters are pretty." Alice stuttered. "My aunt used to say that when I was young, I was as dainty as those flowers. I grew up, but she still says that I look like asters. I don't know why, but I just like them." Shun gave Alice another look that was same one that he gave Alice this morning. Alice looked back, but Runo started talking.

"Okay, since Julie and I both like white-colored flowers, why don't we make an arrangement that pure white?" Runo suggested. Julie still had a worried look.

"But even if we do, we're not going to make anything pretty." Julie protested. Both Runo and Julie had a grim expression of their face. Alice suddenly flared up.

"What is wrong with you two?" Alice yelled. "Are you forgetting why you participated in this ikebana contest in the first place? You're supposed to be having a great time working together for this. If you can even be proud of yourself for something that a little kid could do, then don't bother participating." Everyone witness a flared-up Alice, who was beginning to cool down.

"You're right." Runo said suddenly. "We're been worrying about the appearance of our flowers that we've never even thought about why we're here in the first place. Thanks for helping us realize everything, Shun and Alice. I feel so relaxed now that I don't have such a burden anymore."

"Me too." Julie chimed in. "Now I can totally focus on what's important, which is having a great time. Runo, let's go pick some flowers from your garden. We still have to come over to my house though."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Runo remembered. "Shun, Alice, if you don't mind, you can stay here over for the night. My we have a lot of rooms in my house." Shun and Alice agreed, and they all went to the backyard garden.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

A loud applause was heard as the flower master announced the third and second place winners. "The first place winner is..._White Purity_!"the flower master announced. "Arranged by Runo Misaki and Julie Makimoto! Congratulations, ladies!"

"We won! We _actually _won!"Runo and Julie hugged each other in surprise. The audience cheered as the flower master handed the girls a blue ribbon and their awards. Later, people were leaving, seeing that it was over. Before Shun and Alice left, Runo and Julie went after them with a holey, cardboard box in their hands.

"Before you leave, we want you to have this." Julie opened the cover of the box and showed Shun and Alice another flower arrangement. "This one is a souvenir for you. We made this just for you. Hope you'll like it."

"Here's the other one." Runo opened her box. "They're almost identical, both having chrysanthemums and holly leaves. Except that Julie made one and I made the other. Thanks for helping us get our self-esteem back!"

"It wasn't a problem." Alice smiled back. "See you next time!" Shun and Alice waved goodbye and left.

"We have two more flowers to get, Shun. I hope you can wait a little longer." Alice reassured. "You'll be better, I promise."

"Actually, I feel a lot better already." Shun replied. "Especially with you around."


	7. Emegency

Alice, who couldn't sleep any longer and woke up really early, was still thinking about Shun said yesterday afternoon. _Actually, I feel a lot better already. Especially with you around._ Alice sighed. She wasn't used to hearing this, for she had never been in a relationship with anyone or had these feelings before. Then Alice began crying, and Shun woke up and saw her tears.

"Alice, are you crying?" Shun asked. Alice wiped her eyes and spoke.

"N-No, I wasn't. I just thought of something, that's all." Alice stuttered. "Why did you say that to me yesterday? That phrase after me promising that you'll get better." Alice's eyes got watery again, but Shun just sighed.

"You mean 'Especially with you around?' " Shun asked. "I don't know why, but by the way you were acting yesterday, it reminded me of a friend that I had in the past. _Female_ friend." He emphasized the last part.

"I do?" Alice turned her face to the side. "What was her name?"

"I forgot. We only met once. That was about when we moved to Tsukiboshi." Shun had a hard time remembering. "I think she came over here with her family to help us out during the moving process. She came over and played with me and Onee-san while our parents talked about other stuff."

"Do you know where she went?" Alice asked curiously. "Sounds like she's been gone for a long time."

"She has." Shun responded grimly. "There was a terrible fire that killed my mother. People also said that the fire killed her, too. At first, I refused to believe any of them, but I soon got over the young girl. However, my mother's death will impact me forever."

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Alice sympathized. "What did the girl look like?"

"I really don't remember. Can we please change the topic?" Shun was getting irritated, but Alice knew what to do.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to keep looking for more flowers. Feeling any better?" asked Alice. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"After we eat, if you don't mind." Shun responded. Breakfast was about to start when Shun saw a familiar bird the sky. "Oh my gosh, is that Shona's carrier pigeon? What's it doing here?"

"Because _I'm_ here." It was Shona, running up to Alice and Shun. She was panting the entire time from presumably a long journey. "Shun, Alice, how's it going? Did you find all of the flowers for the cure yet?"

"Not yet. We still need two more flowers." Alice replied. "Shona-nee, what are you doing here?"

"Bad—no, _terrible—_news, Shun." Shona took her pigeon back and talked again. "Grandfather had an accident, and the doctor is at our house. I've been looking for you for two days already."

"How is that possible?!" Shun stood up in shock. "He was just fine a few—"

"What is it, Shun." asked Alice.

"It's been about two weeks already, isn't it?"

"What about two weeks?"

"Can't we stop now?!" Shona interrupted. "We need to go back _now_." Alice and Shun followed Shona back to the Kazamis' mansion.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Uncle, where's the doctor?" Shona asked Suguru. He was about answer her when he saw Shun followed by Alice. "Uncle!"

"Sorry, Shona. I kind of got unfocused." Suguru was glaring a little at Alice but looked at Shun. "Shun, getting any better? You must be cold. Butler, go-"

"I'm okay, thanks." Shun responded. "Alice, you can go have a seat at the sofas. I'll be right back." Alice nodded and went to the living room while Shun and Shona went upstairs.

"I can tell that there's more that meets the eye, Alice. Just watch it." Suguru gave Alice a warning and also went upstairs.

"Grandfather! What happened?" Shun called. Kazami-sama woke up to see Shun's and Shona's faces. "You're awake!" Suddenly, Shun gave off a very loud cough.

"Shun, are you alright?" Kazami-sama asked. "You didn't have to come back all this way to see me." Shun coughed even harder, and the butler handed a cup of tea for him. "Shona, where's the other girl?"

"You mean Alice?" Shona answered. "She's in the living room. Why do you ask?" Kazami-sama was trying to sit up right. "What don't we talk about how you got into the accident?" Just then, Shun stopped coughing, and the doctor from a long time ago came in.

"Looks like something hit him in at the back of the head." the doctor said. "I tried asking him if he remembered anything, but being hit at that area doesn't always lead to perfect memory of what last happened. Kazami-sama is getting better. He just needed to protect his head." He looked at Shun. "Shun-san, if you don't mind, I might as well check on how you're doing. Did you get all of the flowers yet?"

"Still need two more." Shun replied. His voice was fuzzy a while ago, but now it was crystal clear. The doctor took Shun's left hand and measured his pulse.

"Looks like you've been coughing a lot more than what I just heard earlier." the doctor diagnosed. "Keep drinking water. Where are the flowers?"

"Alice has them downstairs." Shun coughed softly. "We're still missing two flowers, but we got interrupted when Shona told us to come back."

"That's true. You can't do much about that." the doctor nodded. "Your grandfather is more important. The chef said that he was going to bring some chicken soup up. I'll be right back." He went downstairs into the kitchen. The doctor gave Alice a short glance, but Alice just smiled and waved back.

"Father, I think you should rest." Suguru said. "Shun still has that cure to get. Right, Shun?" Suguru looked at Shun with a cold expression, and Shun just nodded in agreement.

"Uncle, you just saw Shun cough like crazy back there." Shona protested. "I think he should stay here and rest for a while before going back. Don't worry, Shun. This won't take long." Shona went downstairs, and Shun followed. They saw Alice talking to the butler.

"Really?" Alice asked. "But this house doesn't look like it got burned. Did you reconstruct this after the fire?"

"Actually, the fires never reached this mansion." he replied. "They were all focused over there." The butler pointed to a flat grass field outside. "That was our neighbor's house. Shiori-san was helping them carry some furniture to our house, and then the mysterious fire came."

"How is that possible? It's not like someone knocked flammable materials on the floor while carrying heavy furniture. Who does that?"

"I don't know, Miss Gehabich. To this day, we just call it an accident."

"What are you two talking about?" Shona asked. "By the way, I decided that you and Shun should stay here for now. It must have been cold and rough out there, wasn't it?"

"Well, not really." Alice replied. "The weather wasn't that bad. Sometimes people offered us a night over at their house. It'd be rude to reject."

"Since Onee-san already decided that we're staying, I might as well show you around the mansion." Shun offered his hand to Alice and took her all around the mansion. Meanwhile, Suguru looked down at them from upstairs with disgust.


	8. Just Exactly Who Are You?

"I never usually see Shun so _flexible_ around girls that aren't related to him." the butler noted. "It's like Alice has something that is different than others."

"Mr. Butler, everyone's different." Shona sighed. "What's important now is that Shun gets cured of the hybrid hay fever. Don't you think?"

He nodded in agreement. "I absolutely agree. It's strange that he would suddenly get a rare disease like that. It just came out up from nowhere."

"I was thinking about that, too. I mean, out of all the weird and illogical diseases I read about, it just _had_ to be hybrid hay fever that Shun got."

"You're not suspecting fowl play, are you?"

"I don't know. Nothing makes sense. Shun gets a rare disease, Alice comes along, and Grandfather gets into an accident."

"Well, as they say, two's a coincidence, but three's for real. I don't think we should stress ourselves out with this."

"You're right." Shona sat down and sighed. "By the way, what were you talking about to Alice? You mentioned Mother's name."

"Oh, she asked me about the fire that killed Shiori-san." the butler stroked his beard. "Hold on. Do you remember that girl that—"

"Chef, can you heat up the chicken soup again? Father isn't feeling so good in the head." Suguru yelled as he went down the stairs to check on the soup.

"That is loud." Shona commented. "Okay, Mr. Butler. What did you want to ask?"

"I'm sorry, Shona-san, but I forgot what I was going to say." he apologized. "Maybe I'll remember later."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"This is my grandfather's room." Shun was showing Alice around the mansion from top to bottom. "If you want, you go talk to him for a while."

"I can? But wouldn't that be bothering him?" Alice was reluctant to go in, but Shun pushed her.

"Grandfather, you said you wanted to see Alice earlier." Shun called. Kazami-sama woke up, still having pain in his head. "Alice, come over here."

"Shun? Alice?" Kazami-sama was struggling to get up. "Eh, not only does my head hurt, but so do my bones. So sorry to be greeting you like this, Alice."

"I don't mind." Alice replied. "It's important that elders get their care and respect."

"What an obedient child." Kazami-sama sighed. "If only Shiori was still here. I'm not bothering you two with gathering the cure for hybrid hay fever, am I?"

"No, not at all." Alice responded. "I do agree with Shun, though. Being outside for so long does make you tired."

"Kazami-sama, your chicken soup is here." The chef personally came up to the room to serve the soup. "I'll put it right here on the table."

"I think we leave for now." Alice suggested. "I don't want to bother your grandfather he's while his drinking soup." Shun followed her out into the hallway.

"This is the first room upstairs." Shun kept walking. "The one next door with the phoenix designs at the doorway is mine. You want to go in?" Alice didn't mind, and Shun opened the door. It was really neat and organized.

"This is beautiful." Alice was amazed by how the room was composed of simple items, yet it looked so superior.

"Onee-san keeps saying that I need to clean my room." Shun replied. "Not that I'm disorganized or anything, but my room used to look _plain_." He closed the door and walked the hallway. "You've seen Grandfather's room and mine. This one's Uncle Suguru's. He's likes to keep it locked all the time. The last one is—" Suddenly, Shun started crying, and Alice walked up.

"It's your mother's room, right? I get what you mean." She put her hand on Shun's shoulder. "I think we should leave this room alone. By the way, Shun. Isn't there a backyard here? I'd like to see that." Shun stopped crying and took her downstairs and out the back door. Suguru was watching them from the kitchen with disgust in his face again.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Here's the back yard." Shun introduced. "I know it sounds plain, but this is actually the most beautiful part of the mansion. It has everything." Alice walked around the back yard as if she was in a trance. Then she saw the swing that hung down from the tall tree above.

"Shouldn't there be two swings here?" Alice gave the swing a tug.

"How did you know that?" Shun was really surprised. "The other swing was cut off at the very top where it hangs from the tree. You can't see it from below here." Alice walked over to the marble patio seats and observed that.

"This marble patio set was once gray, right?" Alice put her hand on the table and felt its smoothness. "And it probably was rougher, too."

"What? How do know about this?" Shun was shocked. Then Alice turned around and looked at the railings on the back porch.

"This railing was made of iron, but it's now replaced with steel railing." Shun was going to faint when he heard somebody yelling from the _front_ door.

"Alice, may I talk to you for a while?" Suguru came over. Alice looked at Shun, who nodded. Alice followed Suguru and went through the _front_ door. Meanwhile, Shona came out from the back door.

"How's everything going?" Shona asked. "I was helping the butler with the calculating our spendings. Are you okay? You look really pale."

"Onee-chan, when did we decide to cut the other swing off the tree?" Shun asked. Shona thought about it for a moment, then spoke.

"I think it was about eleven or twelve years ago. They cut it off for random reasons." Shona shrugged.

"When did we change the marble patio?" Shun asked again.

"Eleven years ago." Shona answered. "I just looked that up earlier in the book."

"And when did we change those iron railings to stainless steel?" Shun was being really demanding now."

"Once we moved in this mansion." Shona remembered that really well.

"And when did we move here?!" Shun was getting out of control.

"About eleven or twelve years ago." Shona replied. "Wait, why are you—" Before she could finish talking, Shun dashed off into the back gate, accidentally bumping into the butler.

"Shona-san, what just happened?" The butler was brushing his right shoulder, where Shun bumped into.

"Eleven to twelve years...for heaven' sake! , back into the mansion!" Shona ordered. They both ran into the house and saw Shun, Suguru, and Alice, who was in tears.

"Shun, I-I have to go. I can't stay anymore." Alice sobbed.

"What are you talking about, Alice? And I have something to ask you, too." Shun didn't even know what Alice was talking about.

"I'm sorry that I have to say this, but I really can't stay here any longer. Goodbye!" Alice ran out the door and was out of sight.

"Alice, why? Why do you—" Shun fainted, and Shona and the butler caught him in time and carried him into his room.

"My god, where's the doctor? Shun's fainted!" Suguru went to the telephone and dialed a number.

"I wonder what happened back with Oji-san and Alice." Shona pondered. "Why would Alice do that?"

"Ah ha! I remember that question now!" the butler shouted. "Do you remember the girl that came over to this house that day before the fire started burning?"

"Yes, I do." Shona put what the butler had said with the things that Shun asked earlier. "This isn't good. We need to find Alice, right now. She may have something to do with this."


	9. Please Don't Leave Me

"Is Shun getting any better?" Shona asked the doctor, who had been measuring Shun's pulse for a long time. Finally, he had a conclusion.

"Shun-san's okay." he diagnosed. "It seems that he fainted because he was shocked to hear or see something. Has there been any impacting things happening lately? I'm sorry that there was a substitute doctor yesterday."

"Not a problem, doctor. Yesterday, Alice-san just left for no reason." the butler answered. "That was very impacting." Shona nodded, but the doctor shook his head.

"That could be one of the factors, but there's probably a lot more than this." the doctor contradicted. "Anything happened before that?"

"In the back yard, Shun kept asking me questions about the swing outside, the marble patio, and the steel railing." Shona brought up. "What's weird is that they all end up to the conclusion of 'eleven or twelve years ago.' Then Shun said he needed to see Alice right now, but she left."

"That's a huge impact, if you ask me." the doctor replied. Suddenly, Shun's hand twitched, and he woke up.

"What happened?" Shun's head was hurting, and Shona helped him up. Then he looked around everywhere. "Where's Alice?"

"Calm down, Shun." Shona squeezed his hand slightly. "You've been sleeping here ever since yesterday afternoon. Regarding Alice..." Shona just couldn't bear saying it to him.

"So it wasn't a dream." Shun sighed. "Why the heck would she leave suddenly? It doesn't make sense. Especially since we didn't find all of the flowers yet. The flowers...Are the flowers still with her?! I—" Shun got up, put on a jacket, and ran downstairs. Shona tried to get him, but being trained with ninjutsu since younger, Shun was just too fast. Then the doctor spoke up.

"Wasn't it supposed to rain today?" Shona and the butler looked at the doctor in surprise. "Shun's not going to survive that well in the rain. We'd better find him." They grabbed their stuff and headed out. Before the doctor descended the stairs, Suguru showed up.

"Where are you going?" Suguru asked the doctor.

"It was supposed to rain today, so—"

"Follow them. Keep track of everything that happens."

"Yes, Suguru-san."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Alice was back in her cottage and spending her peaceful, adventure-less days again. But she still could get that conversation with Suguru out of her mind.

_"Alice, may I talk to you for a while?" Suguru came over. Seeing that Shun let her go, Alice followed Suguru into the living room._

_"What is it, Suguru-san?" Alice asked in a fragile voice._

_"You're actually a really nice girl. I used to think of you as a stranger, but maybe I'm changing my mind." Suguru replied._

_"Please don't say that. I'm only just helpin__g—__"_

_"Helping? I don't think that you're just simply 'helping' him. You're hiding something aren't you?"_

_"Suguru-san, I really don't understand what you're talking about."_

_"Don't play tricks with me, young lady! I know who you really are, __and__ Shun would be devastated if he knew."_

_"What do you mean, who I really am? I'm Alice Gehabich, that's__—__"_

_"From the first day that I saw you, I knew something wasn't right. You offered to help Shun, even though you're strangers. That's no something that everyone normally does, isn't it?"_

_"I don't want to hear this! Just what do you want, Suguru-san?"_

_"What makes you think you can back talk me? H__u__h? If you don't leave Shun __and__ this mansion at this moment, I'll make you leave forever."_

_"So you want me to leave?" Alice began crying. "You could've just said that in the first place. Do you know what I hate the most? People that keep saying excuse __and__ never get to the real point of the problem." Then Shun, Shona, __and__the butler __arrived. "Shun, I have to go. I can't stay anymore."_

"Alice, are you okay? Did somebody hurt you or tease you?" Aunt Clara came by and tried comforting her niece. "If you don't want to tell me, then I'm fine with that. Just remember that a simple smile can mean a lot of thing." Aunt Clara was about to go back to the kitchen when Alice spoke up.

"Auntie, what's my real name? What happened to my parents?" This was very unexpected. Aunt Clara turned around.

"Why, you've been Alice Gehabich ever since you were born. About your parents...that was the most horrible car crash in history." Aunt Clara went back to the kitchen, and Alice went outside for a walk. "One more thing, Alice. It was supposed to rain today." Alice didn't reply, and Aunt Clara just sighed.

Alice walked around the grass and onto a path when she felt water on her face. _Oh no, it's raining. I forgot to get an umbrella. _But Alice was so busy walking that her cottage was nowhere to be seen. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Alice! Where are you?" It was Shun. Alice could see him running in the rain. Then Suguru's voice appeared in her head again. Alice wanted to run away, but her head hurt a lot. "Alice! There you are! Please don't leave—" Shun was running over but suddenly, he tripped and spit a lot of blood out. Alice saw him, but she didn't know what to do. _You can't just let some grown-up tell you to do what would naturally oppose your instincts, Alice!,_ she thought.

"Shun! I'm coming!" Alice ran as fast as she can to where Shun was. She held him up, wiped his blood, and hugged him. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to leave you! I'm really sorry!" Alice tears blended in with the heavy rain.

"It's okay." Shun was struggling to talk. "I knew you'd come back." Then Shona, the butler, and the doctor came over with umbrellas. They took Shun back to the mansion for the doctor to check on.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"That stubborn nephew." Suguru paced around in the hallway in anger. "This is all your fault, Alice. If you hadn't left earlier, he wouldn't be like this. Do you know what this means for our family? We will be _ruined_."

"How is this my fault?" Alice asked. "I was actually there to help him, and you didn't even thank me. In fact, you suspected me of doing something that I never even did! How could you say that?"

"Thank you?" Suguru couldn't help but put pour every bit of anger out on Alice. "Thank you? I'd rather kill you!" Suguru held onto Alice's neck and began strangling her. "Once you're dead, then you won't be affecting Shun anymore, and neither will you affect any of us. Sooner or later, you'll be a forgotten person who just stumbled by into our lives _for nothing_. You hear-"

"What are you doing?!" Shona came all of a sudden and pulled Suguru's hands off Alice's neck. "Have you lost your senses?"

"Shona? Are you actually siding with that stranger? You traitorous niece!" He was about to get Shona when she hit his hand with her iron war fan. "You!"

"I'm not siding with Alice." Shona replied. Alice looked disappointed but was glad that Shona saved her, but Shona gave Alice a victorious look like she knew something important and exactly what to do. "I'm siding with Shion and her family." Everyone, including Alice, was surprised to hear what Shona just said.

_Shion,_ Shun thought. _No way, she couldn__'__t be..._


	10. The Truth and His Selfishness

"Hold on there, Shona. Who the heck is Shion?" Suguru wouldn't look at Shona in the face, so there was something suspicious and not right about it. Shona, despite being younger than her uncle, knew that this would happen.

"Oh, Uncle. Why aren't you looking directly at my face? I'm talking to you." Shona didn't care about manners at that moment, and Suguru still wouldn't look at her. "You're just scared that Shun will find out who Alice really is, aren't you?" Suguru immediately turned around and grabbed Alice by the neck. He later took a dagger out of nowhere and put it behind Alice's head.

"How dare you be so rude to your elders?" Suguru yelled. Shun Shona was going to hit him again with her fan, but Suguru readjusted his dagger. "Don't move a centimeter closer, or her beautiful orange hair will turn red. Red as the blood that Shun spits out." Shona didn't listen and attacked him anyway, but Suguru got loose. After drugging Alice with a handkerchief, he jumped down the stairs, and disappeared through the front door with Alice held hostage.

"My goodness! Some uncle he is!" the doctor yelled. "Come on everyone! We should go after him." The doctor was about to go downstairs when Shona had something to say.

"Why, Doctor? How come you suddenly became so passionate about catching Suguru back? Relax." There was a sarcastic tone in her voice. "Doctor, I recently bought a new type of perfume. It said that the ingredients consisted of flowers, but the label didn't say what type. Can you do a smell check for me?" Shona stuck her left hand out, and the doctor reluctantly wafted but sneezed. He was going to get his handkerchief, but couldn't find it.

"Doctor, where's your handkerchief?" the butler asked. The doctor soon realized that he had been tricked.

"I knew it. You and Uncle have been secretly working together to hurt Shun." Shona revealed. "The handkerchief that Uncle had was actually yours, Doctor. I recognized the insignia. Here's another perfume specimen." Shona took out a small glass bottle of pepper spray and sprayed the doctor, who became temporarily blind. "Shun, are you alright? Do you have the energy to run at all?"

"I'm fine, Onee-san. Can you help me up?" Shun got out of bed as Shona carried him on her shoulder. "How did you know that the doctor and Uncle Suguru were secretly working together? And who's Shion?" Shona handed him his jacket.

"I'll explain later. How's Gradfather coming along?"

"Better than ever!" Kazami-sama appeared in front of Shun's room. "So, how are going to find that traitorous son of mine? Any ideas?"

Shona had a smile on her face. "If I'm not mistaken, I think I know where he took Alice."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Alice was drowsy from that handkerchief that Suguru put on her mouth. She woke up to see that she was tied onto a wooden post with a bunch of grass and twigs at her feet. "What am I doing here? Help! Somebody please help!" Then Suguru appeared with a steel can in one hand and a palm-sized paper box in the other. "Suguru Kazami! You dreadful person."

"Dreadful?" Suguru was laughing so loud that Shona and the others could hear him. "Like, you're dreadful. Just like your family. Your parents offered this too-good-to-be-true 'deal' to us, but we fell for it. It's a good thing that they died in that fire, because nobody would want to business them ever again. But you're still here, which means their trickery is still here. I'm going to burn you alive, just like how that fire burned your family alive." He poured the can of kerosene on the branches and was about to light a match when a shuriken flew by his face.

"Don't you dare touch Alice!" Suguru was shocked to see that Shun was full of energy again. "Onee-san had a feeling that you'd be here, where _you_ set the fire that killed almost the entire Myosotis family. But guess what? Instead of killing Alice, or should I say _Shion Myosotis_, the fire killed my mother, who was also _your sister._" Shun threw another shuriken that cut the ropes off of Alice and went to rescue her. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm a little drowsy, but seeing you made me wide awake." Alice and Shun laughed and gave each other a hug. "Thanks for everything."

"I should be thanking you." Shun replied. "You're the one who helped me ever since the beginning."

"And what do you mean, 'trickery and seduction?' That was a fair deal, and I can prove it!" Suguru was really shocked to see his father out from bed. "You were there, for the_ first _half of the meeting, but you never knew what the second part of the deal was.

"What do you mean, _I _never knew the second part of the deal? The Myosotis family just wanted to our money, that all! That's the catch. I just wanted to protect our family, that what."

"More like keeping the money to yourself." Shona suddenly appeared with Aunt Clara. "I'm lucky that I found Alice's aunt, because she saw exactly who _diagnosed_ my younger brother with hybrid hay fever. Right, Clara-san?"

"After all these years, you were still as cruel before." Aunt Clara told everyone. "You killed my family, but when that wasn't enough, you went after Shun. These's years of hiding are finally worth it."

"While Shun and Alice were gone, you went and attacked your own father so Shun and Alice could come back. That was the best time to carry out your plan. Not only did you set that huge fire to kill Alice's family, you also killed Mother as well. Knowing that both of our parents were gone, Shun would have to inherit our possessions and became your next target. You had no idea that Alice would be there to save Shun, so your scheme was delayed. Just because I couldn't inherit our family possessions doesn't mean I don't get to protect it."

"And regarding Shion," the butler spoke. "I may be old, but I'm not forgetful. When we first moved here, the first person that Shun met was Shion. They had a great time playing in our back yard, which is why Alice knows about this swing, the marble patio, and the steel railing. Shun might have forgotten her name, but I didn't. Shion Myosotis. I remember that extremely well because she always wore a beautiful aster flower headband every day.

"No wonder why asters are Alice's favorite flowers." Shun realized. "It's also one of the flowers needed for my cure."

"This can't be happening. _This can't be happening!_" Suguru yelled like crazy and fell down to the ground in shock. "This can't be happening..." Aunt Clara and Shona went over to Shun and Alice. Kazami-sama walked near Suguru.

"Suguru, do you know why I never let any of the Kazami possessions fall into your hands? Because you get motivated to do something too easily." Kazami-sama sighed. Suguru tried getting up to talk.

"Why? Why does this have to happen to me?" He looked at his father. "Father, what was the second part of the deal?"

"You'd be surprised." Kazami-sama replied, "Seeing that you still had the heart to call me by Father, I'll tell you the whole thing. True, the Myosotises gave us an extraordinary deal. They needed money really badly. As an exchange, they offered to let Shion be Shun's future bride, but thanks to your misunderstanding and selfishness, we couldn't make the deal. Now's about the perfect time for it, for Shun's eighteenth birthday is coming up."

Suguru fell down again in shock _and_shame.


	11. Joy and Happiness

"I didn't know you were a doctor, Auntie. When was that?" Alice was surprised that she knew how to deal with patients. Right now, Aunt Clara was measuring Suguru's pulse and checking for symptoms.

"It seems that with a few minor bruises from where he fell down, Suguru's fine." Aunt Clara concluded. "But it looks like he's suffering from mental trauma." She put her hand on Suguru's forehead. "He must've been really shocked. Regarding your question, Alice. I was lucky that I wasn't at _your_ mansion when it burned down. I had to go to a faraway place to help children there with vaccinations."

"Oh, that's too bad." Alice sighed. "Wait, how do you know about the Kazamis? I thought you never met them." She felt Shun put his hand on hers and gave her a soft squeeze.

"That, I'll tell you later, because it's not that simple." Aunt Clara shook her head. "By the way, birthday boy's going to turn eighteen soon. Have any wishes in mind?"

"I...really don't have anything in mind yet. Maybe just to be perfectly healthy again?" Everyone forgot about that.

"I see. How many flowers do you still need?" Aunt Clara put a warm towel on Suguru's forehead.

"Two more." Shun read the paper that the first doctor had given him. "We still need to get delphinium, and the other one—" Shun paused suddenly. "—is illegible. I guess that doctor wrote it like this on purpose. What now?" Shona came upstairs with a medical book in her hand.

"These books aren't reliable." Shona complained. "Yes, they say twelve flowers, but not which type of flowers." She slammed her book and sat by the table.

"Wait, Onee-san. Does it say how to use the flowers?" Shun asked. Shona turned back to the page and read.

"That's in the book, too." Shona kept reading until she stopped. " 'Boil like regular herb remedies.' Is that clear enough?"

"Very clear if you ask me." Aunt Clara stood up and took every downstairs while the rest followed. "We'd better be going, Alice. It's getting late."

"Please don't go yet!" Shona stopped them. "At least stay for dinner."

"We're sorry, Shona-nee, but we really have to go home." Alice replied. She followed Aunt Clara out when Shun stopped her.

"You're going to come over for my birthday dinner night, are you?" Shun sounded worried, but Alice smiled.

"Of course I will. Trust me. I wouldn't want to miss that." Alice waved goodbye and left.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"It seems that you really like him, do you?" Aunt Clara cleaned up the table while Alice took the utensils away. "If your really do, I'm not surprised."

"Auntie, this is embarrassing." Alice replied. "I don't know why, but only after a couple of weeks, I feel like that I've known Shun for a long time. It's weird."

"You have, sweetie." Aunt Clara laughed. "You two first met a long time ago, like what their butler said. Are you going wash the dishes what?"

"Okay, Auntie. I get what you mean. But you still haven't answered my question from today at the Kazamis' mansion."

"I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?" Aunt Clara replied. "By the way, can you get my gardening tools. I want to pick some flowers for Shun."

"Yes, Auntie." Alice took some shovels and a basket. "I'll get you your stuff."

"One more thing." Aunt Clara was looking in the kitchen for scissors. "Can you get me some lavender fabric? You're not going anywhere tomorrow night in that outfit."

"Thank, Auntie. You're the best."

"Anytime, darling." Alice gave Aunt Clara a warm hug, who gave Alice a kiss on her forehead.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Good evening, Kazami-sama!" Aunt Clara greeted as she entered the front door. "Are we the only guests?"

"I'm afraid you are." Kazami-sama replied. "But that's not a problem. Come in." Aunt Clara nodded, and Shun arrived at the front door.

"Alice, is that..." Shun was blushing so hard that he couldn't even talk. Shona appeared behind him with a fan in her hand.

"What a surprise. He was frustrating the whole time trying to look good in this tuxedo, but I always say that it looks perfect." Shona looked at Alice. "Now what did you do, Shun? Alice isn't talking either. You make a better door than a window."

"Hey! What's that supposed to-" Shona had already left, and Shun and Alice burst into laughter and went over to sit down.

"How many hours did you spend adjusting that bow tie of yours?" Alice said. "It looks very neat.

"Not that many hours." Shun eyed Alice's dress. "How many hours did you spend making that gorgeous dress of yours?" It was Shun's turn to talk back.

"So, Shun's officially eighteen, isn't he?" Aunt Clara asked. "Happy Birthday, birthday boy! That's how I always called everyone back then."

"Thanks, Aunt Clara." Shun replied. "I've never had anyone be so caring and nice like a mother to me ever since the fire."

"Shun, it's not the time to be talking about this." Alice told him. "You're supposed to have a great time on this day."

"Oh, I forgot. Remember the question that Alice asked me yesterday?" Everyone gave Aunt Clara a nod. "I actually knew the Kazamis, especially Shiori, for a long time already. Remember the day when Shiori was about to deliver her second child, and the nurse asked for permission for a training student to observe the process? That training student was me, Clara Myosotis."

"Wait...so you were the ginger-haired girl who fidgeted every time when the doctors picked up bladed medical tools?" the butler asked as everyone gasped. "I don't believe it!"

"Yes, that was me, _before_ I graduated from medical school. Recently, Alice brought Shun home to tell me about hybrid hay fever. Remembering that fire from a long time ago, I didn't know whether Alice should help him or not. Then I remember seeing Suguru scatter something onto Shun, so I might as well let Alice help him, for I knew about the deal that my brother offered to you. Then Shona came over a couple of days ago asking for my help, which led to today."

"Very surprising to hear that." Kazami-sama responded. "You know, Clara-san. You really do remind me of that training student from a long time ago." He looked as his plate of food. "Why isn't anyone eating? And my wine's cold already. Everyone, this is a day for celebration. My grandson can now fully be in charge of our family possessions. Cheers!" Everyone held their beverages up and also yelled a loud, "Cheers!" and drank whatever was in their cups.

"This is such wonderful day." Shun complimented. "For some reason, I feel like I have a real family again."

"Of course you have a family." Alice replied. "Wasn't I here the whole time when we had to gather flowers?" Shun nodded, and Aunt Clara spoke up.

"Alice, you might want to bring that present out now." Aunt Clara reminded. "I bet Shun would love that." Alice took the bag from Aunt Clara's hands and took a flower pot out.

"Here, Shun." Alice held the pot carefully in her hands. "They're delphiniums. Grown from my garden and picked just for you and your cure. They also your birth flower."

"Thanks, Alice." Shun hugged Alice in front of everyone, in which everyone stayed silent about but secretly giggled at. "This is going to be worth treasuring." He put the flower pot down for now. "Okay, everyone. Let's eat!"

"Let's eat!"


	12. Never Forget True Love

"That was a delicious meal." Alice complimented. "Thank you so much." She stood up and bowed in front of everyone, only to be stopped by Shona.

"Alice, you don't have to be so polite." Shona held Alice up. "We're a family, right? And family members treat each other like family members."

"Thank you so much, Shona-nee." Alice responded. "Shun's right. It's been a long time since I've felt family love again." She gave Shona a hug

"Alice, you can just call me Shona. No need to call me by Nee." Shona looked at Aunt Clara, who suddenly had a grim expression. "Clara-san, what's wrong? You were still very cheerful when you were talking."

"I-I don't know how to say this, but-" Aunt Clara burst into tears. "I'm sorry, everyone, but there's one thing that I haven't told you about. It has to do with Alice, and what her parents last said _before _they died."

"What do you mean, before they died?" Shun wasn't satisfied. "Wait, how were they able to give you a message if Alice's parents were dying?"

"I just received a letter from the hospital where I originally worked. They said that my break is almost up, and I have to go back. You read it." She took a piece of paper out, and Shun read it out loud while everyone listened.

_Miss Myosotis,_

_Your twelve year break that you requested is almost up. We've been struggling for a long time, but we managed to overcome it. We hope that you'll come back. We really need your help here. Most doctors-in-training are getting out of training later than ever, __and__ I hope that you can help us in training more excellent doctors. We appreciate what you've done in the past, __and__ now it's time for you to make another commitment. Regarding the request that Mr. Myosotis sent us. Miss Shion will have her place in training one you come back. If there's anything you need to edit in her profile, please say so. We've missed you._

_Silent Snow__ Hospital_

"You're not really going to..." Aunt Clara nodded her head before Shun could finish talking. "Do you really have to?"

"I'm sorry, Shun. Alice will just have to go back with me." Aunt sighed. "I know this is just too sudden, but I can't disobey my brother. I'm going to take back to where I originally worked at for training." Shun just wouldn't believe it.

"Auntie, do I really have to leave? I like living here in Tsukiboshi. I can't leave." But no matter how many tears Alice shed, it wasn't enough to change everything. "Okay then. I'll go back to Trinity Cross Hospital with you."

"Thanks for understanding. Your father planned every ahead of time." Aunt Clara gave Alice a hug. "I'm going back to pack up our stuff. Why don't you stay and wait for me to come back?" Alice nodded, and Aunt Clara waved goodbye.

"Alice, can I talk to you outside in the back yard?" Shun asked. Alice agreed, and went outside with him.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Are you really leaving?" Shun wouldn't even look at Alice in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Shun, but if my father really wanted me to admit into the hospital, then I have no choice. I wish I could stay longer and help you with your cure."

"I'll be fine, Alice. I still need to get that one last flower that I don't even know what it is."

"Why don't we talk about other stuff? What are you going to do in the future?"

"Maybe something medical related."

"Shun, you're not just saying that just to stay by side, are you?"

"I guess you could say that, but now I know how it feels to have some chronic disease in your body. At least it can get cured, but others aren't that easy."

"I get what you mean. You know, I've always wanted to ask you this."

"What is it, Alice?"

"Do you want to call me by Shion or Alice?"

"Well, when I first met you, you were Shion Myosotis, but after what happened lately, I'm used to calling you by Alice."

"Maybe I'll stay as Alice Gehabich. My past is way too complicated that Shion Myosotis would suffer in pain forever."

"Don't say that! If you ever feel sad or depressed or anything, just think of me."

"I won't have to, Shun. You know why?"

"Alice, don't make me guess. Even the most optimistic person can be upset once in a while. It's balanced."

"Not that. It's because I think of you every day, which is why I'm this optimistic."

"I didn't expect that." It was a good thing that it was night outside, because Alice wouldn't be able to see Shun turn scarlet.

"Doesn't the moon look pretty tonight? I wonder if I'll have the time to see the moon everyday once I leave."

"Just remember that we're going to be looking at the same moon every night, okay?"

"Okay!" Alice and Shun pinky promised, and she reached in her pocket to get something. "Here's a small bag of aster flowers. I remember that it the last flower needed for the cure." Suddenly, Shona and Aunt Clara appeared at the door.

"So, we have all twelve flowers, right?" Shona asked. "Looks like I can tell the chef to boil your medicine. It's also getting late, so Alice, you and Clara-san are leaving tomorrow morning." Alice and Shun cheered as they went inside.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"I'm glad that you're fully healed." Alice said as she walked out the front door. "You sure pit a lot of blood out yesterday."

"Until I spit out pure red blood." Shun replied. "That was horrible, but I could endure that." He helped Alice load her luggage onto the car.

"Thanks, Shun." Alice responded. "Although I wasn't able to spend a lot of time with you in the past, I really enjoyed helping you get better. Think of it as repaying you for that great day. I'm sorry that I suddenly disappeared."

"You can change fate, Alice. You'll just have to accept it." he told her.

"Alice, I'm ready to go." Aunt Clara yelled. "How about you?"

"Can I talk to Shun for a little longer?" Alice asked. Aunt Clara nodded. "I know I left suddenly a long time ago, and I have to leave again. It might me a long time that I'll see you again."

"No matter what, I'll always remember you." Shun took a bag out to the blushing Alice. "This is for you." Alice looked inside and saw a small flower pot.

"This is beautiful." Alice exclaimed. "Asters and...what are these blue flowers?"

"Asters and forget-me-nots." was his reply. "Read the label."

"Never forget true love." Alice read. "That's right. Asters a symbol of true love."

"Forget me not." Shun responded. He kissed Alice for the first time. "Take care, Shion." Alice looked at him with a surprised expression. "Only I get to call you Shion." Alice smiled in return as she got on the car.

"See you next time, Shun!" Alice yelled as she lowered the window. "Bye!"

"Bye, Shion!" Shun waved back as the car drove off. Only the skies will know when the two will meet again. If they met again once, they'll meet again twice.


End file.
